A Soldier's Work
by icanhascamaro
Summary: Will has a hard time explaining Ironhide's death to Annabelle. She understands it in a way only a six year old can.


**Author's Notes: **I haven't been around a lot of six year olds, so I hope I haven't made Annabelle sound too goofy.

Also, dates are approximate. I mean, honestly, what consistency _is_ there in a Bayverse production? From my point of view, not much.

**Author's Warning: **There is swearing in this story. Sarah and Will Lennox are both guilty of potty mouth, but never around Annabelle. I apologize to those of you who do not like swearing. I tried to keep it within the context of the scene. As such, there is no unnecessary swearing, aka swearing just cuz. Pinky promise.

* * *

**In Memory of Paul Walker who died yesterday, November 30, 2013. **

**Forever Fast and Furious, and gone way, _way_ too freaking soon.**

* * *

I should be crying, but I just can't let it show.  
I should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking  
Of all the things I should've said, that I never said.  
All the things we should've done, that we never did.  
All the things I should've given, but I didn't.

Oh, darling, make it go, make it go away.

* * *

_Lennox Farm_

_July 2011_

«««

The sun was setting as Will Lennox pulled onto the driveway leading to his farmhouse. He drove down that long driveway with a heavy heart. The steering wheel under his fingers moved only of his own volition. The gas pedal and brake responded to his feet. The gear shifter was in drive because he had put it there.

The logo embedded in the steering wheel wasn't the familiar Autobot insignia. It wasn't even a civilian vehicle to begin with. After he left from the debriefing session in DC for a flight home, he had been loaned a jeep from the vehicle pool of the base he'd landed at. It was painted a bland military tan, complete with its own serial number on its sides. Of those who had offered, he hadn't had the heart to take up on Ratchet, Optimus, or Sideswipe's offer (an offer from Sideswipe that had been highly unusual in and of itself) of a ride home. Those bots had enough on their own hands.

And besides, Will was a big boy who could drive himself home. Despite having had the luxury for the past few years of being friends with robots who turned into vehicles (who didn't mind driving you all over the place), he still knew how to drive an actual vehicle. He would be home for a few weeks before going back to Diego Garcia.

Up until now, when he could see his house, it had been ridiculously easy to put Ironhide's death to the back of his mind. He hadn't wanted to, but he'd had to in order to survive the battle of Chicago. He knew that Ironhide himself would've demanded that much of Will. They were both warriors (though Will was technically a soldier with a microscopic amount of combat time under his belt compared to what Ironhide had experienced) and Ironhide knew as much as Will did that you **had** to put certain things _away_ during the heat of battle, or else you could get yourself killed.

If you didn't put away pain, grief, longing, or any number of emotions away, you'd go home in a pine box. Or, as in Ironhide's case, you might be coming back in a box the size of a PS4, which seemed ridiculous considering Ironhide had left for D.C. as a 25 foot tall Cybertronian.  
_  
_Will eased the jeep into park, numbly realizing that he'd stopped the vehicle in what was customarily Ironhide's 'spot' under the oak tree near the barn.

Yes, it had been stupidly easy to compartmentalize Ironhide's death. It was only when one was sitting in front of one's house, when one was out of the heat of battle and surrounded by the loving environment of one's home, that one could feel that pain and sorrow creeping up on one's self.

_Fuckshit__**damnit**__..._

He wasn't going to have an easy time explaining this disaster to Annabelle.

Will had started with Sarah, and, naturally, it had been far easier explaining Ironhide's death to his wife. Sarah understood. Every time Will and Ironhide had left for another mission, she knew it would be dangerous, but she would send them with her complete love and encouragement. She didn't like sending her boys out, but she always supported them to her fullest.

_"Just make sure you come home to me!"_ That had been the only thing she ever had them promise her.

A wash of sorrow swept over Will and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before reopening them.

_Man up, Lennox,_ he chided himself and stared at the remains of the bugs who had suicided on the windshield.

Okay, so _that _morbid phrasing didn't help at all.

Knowing it would do no good to linger, Will reached for the door handle and paused. Then he silently rebuked himself when he was momentarily surprised that nothing had happened when his hand approached the door handle. Every time when he had come home and made his move to leave Ironhide's cab, the driver's side door had opened on its own. If Will was slow to leave, the entire truck would jiggle a bit in Ironhide's own way of silently shoving Will back to his family.

Just not this time.

Not _any_ other time.

Ironhide would never again set a foot, or tire, on Will's farmland.

Will got out of the jeep, suddenly, startlingly, awash in the familiar scents of home, and reached back into the jeep for his duffle bag. It was heavy, but it was a comforting, familiar weight. Pulling it forward with a slight grunt, his eyes lingered on a second, smaller bag that rested on the front passenger's seat. Dropping the duffle bag onto the grass at his feet, Will eyed the other bag with slight apprehension.

For a moment, he stood there, partially leaning against the jeep, listening to the ticking of the cooling engine and the sounds of nature that threatened to drown out the mechanical sounds. There were crickets chirping all around him, a bunch of frogs had begun their evening song in the nearby marsh, and a few bats had come out for their evening hunt.

The porch light had come on just then. Sarah was giving him time to come into the house. She wasn't pressuring him. She already knew how Ironhide had been killed in DC, way before all of the horror in Chicago. Will had told her, once the battle had been finally over, because she was the first one he had called. He hadn't even called the President first.

Not the DOJ.

Not Mearing.

Just Sarah.

She hadn't believed him at first, but the tone of Will's voice had spoken more than he cared to.

_"Will, baby, I'm so sorry," _Sarah had stammered out. Her voice was thick with sorrow but she was a soldier's wife. She did not cry, and Will knew she wouldn't cry until after she had hung up with him. _"Just come home to me, okay?"_

Now he was home.

The second bag was physically light, but emotionally as heavy as Ironhide himself.

The front door opened as Will approached the house. Sarah stood there, alone, with her arms hugging her waist. Her long blonde hair spilled over her right shoulder in a tumbled mess that said she had probably been waiting on the couch. Annabelle was nowhere in sight, but Will could guess his little one was probably sound asleep in her bed. Normally she would be there with her mom, but Will had purposely come home as late as he could.

Mainly because Annabelle loved welcoming _them_ home. She would always give Ironhide a hug, no matter what form he was in. Truck or mech, it didn't matter to Will's brave little girl. Ironhide, who had at first been so gruff and _definitely_ not infant-friendly, had grown very used to the little girl. When he wasn't calling her his little sparkling, the big black mech had started calling her his little warrior. Ironhide had admitted to Will that he had been amazed at the little human's fearlessness of him.

But Annabelle had no clue that the mission her father and her best friend had gone off to had been anything but routine. Will hadn't even thought that the mission could have possibly ended as it had. He never would've guessed that a Prime could, or would, betray them. That thousands of humans would be annihilated. Or that Ironhide could be seriously injured, much less killed.

Assassinated was more like it. He wasn't taken out in the heat of battle, like Will had always morbidly imagined would be the way Ironhide would die. He was shot in the back by a coward.

His brow furrowed at the thought. Annabelle would be full of questions in the morning. Fuck it all if he could even _begin_ to have an answer. And the biggest question would be regarding why I'nhide wasn't there.

Sarah opened the screen door, letting Will in, and he was barely a step into the living room when she was throwing her arms around his waist, squeezing him in a hug to end all hugs.

Will let the duffle bag slump onto the floor, and he hugged her in a one armed hug of his own. His right hand held the black bag. It was a nondescript black messenger bag that Ratchet had given him and it fit the object within perfectly.

Too perfectly.

Sarah stepped back and sighed. "You okay?"

"I don't...I don't know." Will shook his head. "No. Yes." He sighed. "Can we sit?"

She led the way to the couch, where a blanket had been hastily thrown over the back of the couch, and they sat. The only light on in the room was on a side table next to the couch.

Will gingerly placed the bag on the couch between the two of them. "This is it. This is the only thing that wasn't touched by Sentinel's shot." He broke off with a deep sigh. "The only thing that's left."

Sarah reached for the bag and unzipped it. She pulled out a soft red blanket, but that was not the item that Will had been talking about. Sarah carefully unfolded the blanket and breathed out, "Oh, Will," when she saw what was nestled within the folds of the blanket.

Laying there was the bold GMC logo from the front of Ironhide's alt form. The letters were scratched and dirty, but such imperfections were expected after the countless battles and skirmishes Ironhide had experienced since the time he had acquired the alt.

She delicately ran her fingers over the logo and Will watched the mix of emotions run over her features. "I had hoped that it wasn't true." She sniffled and looked up at him with eyes that sparkled with tears. "I had been praying that you were playing a joke on me but when you drove up in that jeep, I just knew."

"I know," Will hugged her close to him, feeling her tears splash down on his bare arms. "I know."

"Did they get the jerk that did this to him?"

Will thought back to the final battle with a sigh. "Yeah, they got him."

The tears abruptly stopped and Sarah looked at her husband with determined, though reddened, eyes. "He died fighting, right? Ironhide wouldn't go out any other way. I know that much about him."

"Yeah." The lie fell from his lips before he could stop it. "Of course."

* * *

_The next morning…_

Will hadn't slept much, and ended up dozing off alone on the couch. Sarah had gone up to sleep in their bed, telling Will she wanted to be close to Annabelle's room in case the little girl woke during the night.

He figured he got about four hours of sleep, and even those were off and on. He found himself waking from dreams with Ironhide in them. Some were from victorious battles with Decepticons, and some were nightmares from DC. Will held back a sharp laugh from remembering one dream in particular, the one where Ironhide avoided the shot to the back, killed Sentinel, and fought through the very end of the battle in Chicago.

That dream was one of the best.

And yet still was another dream that had no battling in it. No fighting. The dream had been with himself and Ironhide, here at the farm. Both had been simply sitting under the tree by the barn, or in Ironhide's case – near the tree, watching the sun setting.

Ironhide, in mech form, had been talking to him, but for the life of him, Will couldn't consciously remember what the black mech had been saying. He could _see_ Ironhide talking to him, but for as hard as he concentrated, he couldn't hear what Ironhide was saying.

Suddenly, Will snapped out of his thoughts at the first sounds of life from above him. A smile curled his lips when he heard the high pitched chatter of his daughter, mixed with the lower murmuring from his wife.

But a pang went through his stomach like a knife when he distinctly heard Annabelle's gleeful shrill of "I'nhide!"

Rushed thundering of little feet, which somehow made it seem as if a horse had gotten loose in his house, sounded as Annabelle ran down the stairs. Even though she was only six, she was a brilliant little girl and, thanks to her mom, she knew exactly where her father was.

"Daddy, daddy!" Joy was laced in each exuberant squeal as the blonde little girl (who was haphazardly dressed in blue jeans, a red shirt with a kitten on the front, and a pair of shoes that most definitely had not been bought together – one was a sneaker and the other was a sandal) darted into the living room. She flung herself at her father, and Will moved fast to catch the squirming bundle of Annabelle. "You're home!"

"Hey, baby 'Belle," Will hugged her close, relishing in the feel of his daughter, and yet feeling pained at how happy she was. Namely because he was about to seriously screw up her childhood. "How's my baby girl?"

"Daaaaaady," Annabelle's face screwed up into a pout. "I'm six! I'm no baby."

"No, of course not," Will forced the smile away and gave a serious stare, complete with a slight frown, to his daughter. "How silly of me! Obviously, you're a grown up."

"Nuh uh, I'm six, I'm…" Annabelle frowned. "Yeah, I'm a g'won up."

Will grinned at the sudden look of concentration, namely because the gap in his little one's teeth made her look so damned cute. "And what do grown ups eat for breakfast?"

She brightened. "Breakf'st!"

"What do they _eat_ for breakfast?"

A frown again. "Uh…food."

He snorted at his little genius. "Close enough," and Will grabbed her under her armpits as he stood up, swinging her around onto his hip. "Let's go, soldier!"

It was as they walked past the front door, which faced the barn, when Annabelle squirmed in his grip. "Daddy, wait!"

Will froze, feeling a pit of pain spark to life in his gut. "Yeah?"

"Why's I'nhide not there?"

Wanting to swear his head off in the worst way possible, Will forced himself to take a breath, hold it for a second, and let it out. "He's not there."

"I know, daddy, _why_?"

Will walked away from the door and into the kitchen. He was silent as he placed Annabelle in her booster seat at the table. He sat in a chair at the table and looked at her. Even though he'd faced down huge Decepticons, insane normal human-to-human combat situations, and survived all of that shit with split second decision making, he hadn't the foggiest idea of _how_ to explain to his little girl why her best friend wasn't ever coming back home to her.

Then an idea came to him.

Will pulled his chair over to sit close to Annabelle, just in case she needed a hug or started crying. He knew Sarah wouldn't be pissed at him for making their little girl cry, but he so dearly hated to see either of his ladies being miserable.

_Fuck._

"Remember what I told you a while ago? How sometimes the people that Daddy goes to work with don't go home?"

She reached forward to play with a crayon that had been forgotten about on the table. "Uh-huh."

"That sometimes a soldier's work is done with and they go home to be with God?"

"I r'member."

"Well, honey, that's what happened with Ironhide. His work was done and he went home."

She stared up at him with huge, innocent blue eyes. "To be with God?"

Back after Jazz's death, and because someone had asked, the Autobots had explained their views of death and the afterlife to the humans at NEST. Though the major had no idea how well the Cybertronian's idea of Heaven fit into his idea of Heaven, Will had remembered it just because the whole explanation had seemed so surreal. From what Will understood, most of the Cybertronians actually _**knew**_ their deity. It was as baffling as it was amazing. And now he had something he could tell his daughter.

"Actually, 'Belle, the Autobots have their version of Heaven that they call the Well. When a Cybertronian dies, their spark goes to be with their God, who is named Primus. It's at the Well that all of the sparks are born and it's there that they go when their work in life is done."

The little girl seemed to think this over. Finally, she looked up at her father and smiled. "I'nhide isn't done yet, Daddy."

Will's heart broke and his smile almost faltered. "What do you mean, 'Belle?"

"Silly, Daddy," she reached forward, because he had leaned towards her while explaining things, and patted the side of his face gently. "I'nhide isn't done so he's gonna come back. It's okay."

_'Fuck you, Sentinel. I hope you're burning in the Pit right now,' _Will thought vehemently and he clasped his daughter's hand with his own and schooled his features into a neutral expression. The only thing he could do was agree with his daughter. Anything else could traumatize her and he'd be damned if he'd let Sentinel do that to his little girl.

To Ironhide's little warrior.

"Of course, baby," he said as he lied again. "Of course, Ironhide will be back."

* * *

_A week later…_

Sarah sighed tiredly as she lugged the last grocery bag from the shopping cart to the back of her four door pickup truck. She stared at the empty cart. _Just my purse is there and Annab…_

"'Belle…" She looked at the childless cart. "Annabelle…"

Sarah Lennox wasn't a mom prone to anxiety attacks. She was a soldier's wife, Will Lennox's wife, and she was strong. Through time away from Will while he was fighting in tours overseas, through knowing he'd gone from fighting evil people to fighting huge evil _alien robots_, she'd been as calm as she could be. Having Annabelle in her life had helped exponentially.

But Annabelle wasn't _in_ the shopping cart.

She wasn't _by_ the shopping cart.

She wasn't in sight _at all_.

'_Do not panic, it won't help,'_ Sarah chanted to herself in her mind as she shouldered her purse. _'The only thing panicking will do will make things worse.'_

She _wanted_ to panic.

The parking lot was packed with people and cars. All shapes and sizes of both.

Yet, oddly enough, it seemed suddenly very quiet. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, her blue eyes frantically (not frantically, _swiftly_) scanned the parking lot and its contents.

She could hear Ironhide's voice in her mind, memories from a time when he'd told her how to observe her surroundings for threats. It had been part of the training the weapon's specialist had Sarah undergo to show her how to protect herself and Annabelle. This way she wasn't fully defenseless while he and Will were away.

His voice echoed in her mind. _Scan the area. Dismiss obvious neutrals. Acknowledge the threat but do not engage until you are certain you can. Then shoot the slag out of that fragger until he's not moving._

But she didn't see a threat and she didn't see her daughter. She looked for cars or vans moving away faster than it would warrant leaving a grocery store. Nothing looked suspicious at all.

Everything looked boringly pedestrian.

Sarah patted her front left pocket, feeling the truck's keys inside. Numbly, trying to not look like a panicking young mother, she shut the back door of the pickup. Her purse hit her side, startling her, and Sarah calmly looked throughout the interior of the pickup. Sadly, it wasn't large enough to hide a six year old girl playing hide and seek.

No one was in the pickup but one Sarah Lennox.

The pickup, ironically enough a black GMC Sierra (which was the little brother to Ironhide's topkick form), was Will's gift to her for when he was out fighting Decepticons.

"_It's not Ironhide, but it's close enough." _Oh, he'd been so thoroughly pleased with himself, and even Ironhide had snorted in amusement at the time. But right now, she rather wished the pickup was Ironhide.

_Will is gonna shit a brick,_ Sarah thought suddenly. _Losing Ironhide was one thing, but Annabelle? Fuckfuck__**fuck**__…_

"Excuse me, miss?"

A lilting male voice broke into her thoughts, and Sarah spun around. Her heart almost stopped when she saw that a man was holding Annabelle flush against his left side.

"W…what…" Sarah's voice croaked out in dismay. "Annabelle!"

"She's okay," the man was almost distractingly plain looking. Brown hair, golden brown eyes, average height and slender. It was just his voice that sounded as if it had an accent, but Sarah couldn't place it, and _he had her __**daughter**__!_

Forcing herself not to panic or overreact, Sarah reached forward. "Annabelle!"

"Poor thing was tuckered out," the man smiled and walked closer. "I'm sorry I picked her up, but she told me where her mom was at. I picked her up and before I knew it she had fallen asleep."

That her daughter had fallen asleep so easily was true enough. They'd had a big day shopping. But Sarah displaced that from her mind because a **stranger** was holding Annabelle _far_ too casually for a mother to be okay with.

"Can you…can you give her to me?" Sarah reached out, half afraid the man would be a pervert and take Annabelle away. The other half of her was afraid he'd already done _something_.

"Absolutely," the man moved even closer, way too into Sarah's comfort zone, and held out the little girl. "Again, I'm sorry to have held her like that. She seems okay though."

Annabelle was spookily quiet and sound asleep as the man handed her to Sarah. Once the girl was settled against her mother's side, the woman looked back at the man. He was studying her with an unsettlingly piercing gaze.

"She's a good girl," was all he said. "Really smart. I bet she'll be amazing when she grows up."

"Thank you," Sarah said stiffly. Weird or not, and she thought he was _very_ weird, she wanted him away from them.

The man smiled in a way that almost made Sarah think he heard what she'd thought, but he didn't say anything more. Turning her back on him, Sarah walked away, back to the pickup truck. Looking back briefly, not seeing the strange man at all, she sighed with relief and thumbed the remote with all the skill of a mother who was used to having the remote stuck in her jeans pocket, which was where it was frustratingly jammed at.

She pulled the door open and gently lowered a still slumbering Annabelle into the car seat. Even though she was six, this wasn't a sentient vehicle and Sarah needed her daughter to be safe. For right now, a booster seat wouldn't cut it for her and the car seat did.

With the seatbelt tucked around her, Annabelle was safe now. Sarah felt like an idiot, because she had no idea how Annabelle had even gotten away from her. She'd been secured in the shopping cart, for Pete's sake.

"She said her best friend in the whole universe was missing."

Sarah groaned under her breath and looked over her right shoulder. "Why are you still here? Did you want a reward or something?"

The man cocked his head in a weird birdlike manner that had Sarah on full alert. "No, I'm just glad to see her with you again."

"Uh, okay," Sarah was starting to feel panicked again, but for a whole other reason.

Stranger danger.

Never more in her life did she wish Ironhide was here. Not this non-sentient vehicle.

"Sometimes that which you think is lost, really isn't."

Sarah looked back at the man. "What are you talking about?"

"Just…" he shrugged. "Sometimes there's more to the situation than what meets the eye."

"That sounds like a crock of shit," Sarah whispered angrily. "Especially when her best friend was killed by a coward!"

The man cocked an eyebrow with a questioning expression and Sarah felt her heart drop.

'_Shit.' _Sarah instantly wondered if this man was with the police or the military. Wondered if she was being tested and just failed miserably.

"I'm no one special, ma'am," the man said, partially raising his hands to show they were empty. "Just a man wandering by who saw a momentarily lost little girl."

Sarah looked at the vehicle to see Annabelle was still asleep. No, wait, she was waking up! She looked back to the man, only to see that he wasn't there.

The woman looked around, but didn't see him walking away, and suddenly the parking lot seemed noisier. Music thumped out of a passing convertible and a group of people walking by were chattering noisily among themselves.

Sarah ducked down, looking under immediate vehicles, but saw nothing.

She looked around, but saw no one. It was as if he'd vanished.

"Mommy?"

The voice had Sarah's neck almost snapping back to take in her daughter's expression. Sleepy, confused, but somewhat alert. "Hi, baby," Sarah was there, brushing back soft blonde hair. "You okay?"

"Uh huh," Annabelle nodded and blinked. "That man was nice."

"He was weird," Sarah said dryly.

"He was _nice_," Annabelle insisted. "He talked to me and said he'd find you for me and then he said that…"

Sarah frowned when her daughter hesitated. "What, baby? What did he say?"

Annabelle's face screwed up as she thought. "He said I'm s'pposed to tell you an daddy tonight."

"Tell us what?"

"t'night, mama," was all Annabelle would say whenever Sarah asked.

Eventually, the woman gave up.

* * *

_That night…_

Sarah had desperately not wanted to tell Will what happened, but both she and he had long ago promised to never keep secrets. Especially not huge secrets. What they bought each other at Christmas, birthdays, or anniversaries weren't part of that deal.

This Annabelle thing had been huge. That she had been safely returned to Sarah's arms was one thing. The odd feeling the stranger gave off was quite another.

Dinner had come and gone, and it was only as the three had dessert (vanilla ice cream) that Annabelle had decided to tell her own story.

"I'm sorry, 'Belle, can you repeat that?" Will stared at his daughter with an astonished expression.

Annabelle sighed with all of the patience of a saint. "Daddy, why?"

"Because I want to know if what you said matches with what I thought I heard."

Sarah rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She, too, was somewhat nervously intrigued.

"Whatdja think I said?"

Will sighed at his daughter's brilliant repartee. "I thought you said that a _stranger_ told you _Ironhide_ was coming back."

The spoon in Annabelle's hand made a tinging noise as it gently knocked against the bowl. "Okay, that's what I said." She made a show of somewhat gracefully getting a scoop of melting ice cream from the bowl to her mouth. Only a small portion ended up on the side of her mouth.

Will looked over at Sarah with a pleading expression.

She put her own spoon down and attempted to translate. "Honey, did the strange man say Ironhide's name?"

"Nuh uh."

Relief flooded the woman and by the look on his face, Will was also feeling better about it. "Did you tell him Ironhide's name?"

"Uh huh."

It didn't trouble her that Annabelle had done so. She really doubted anyone would think Ironhide was anything but an imaginary friend. Annabelle was six, for crying out loud.

"And did you tell him Ironhide was your friend?"

"No, momma," the little girl looked over with big eyes. "I told him I'nhide was the bestest most good best friend in the whole wide world universe!"

"Well, of course," Will said. "That makes a difference."

"I know," Annabelle said solemnly.

"And why did he say that Ironhide was coming back?"

"I told him that I'nhide went home to his Heaven, but his work wan'nt done yet. So he hafta come back to me."

Sarah's entire body almost melted at the words. "Oh, sweetie."

But Annabelle smiled. "He said he ag'weed with me. He said that I'nhide hafta come back because he in'nt done yet. He said that bestestest f'weinds in the whole galaxy world don't stay 'way for long."

As a mom, Sarah couldn't decide if she wanted to find that man and strangle him for what he'd told Annabelle, or if she wanted to thank him. She was leaning towards the former.

"An' also he said that I'nhide was being 'nnoying." Annabelle looked up at her parents with a quizzical expression. "What's that mean?"

"It means he asks too many questions, little warrior," Will gently bopped the little girl on the tip of her nose with his spoon.

She frantically wiped at her nose, even though Will's spoon had been clean of ice cream. "Eeeewwww, daddy! G'woss!"

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

"I don't know, Sarah," Will sighed softly and stared out at the front yard. "This might hurt her."

The two were sitting on the front porch, watching Annabelle play in area they'd called a front yard. Being that the farm encompassed a multitude of acres, they had a decent sized area of the land in front of the house fenced in for their daughter's safety.

Right now she was just running around, expending energy. She had been playing front yard tea party, but had abandoned that.

"It could give her closure," Sarah ventured.

"Or broken dreams," Will retorted dryly.

She shoved his shoulder. "Jerk."

"Okay, so maybe _I_ don't want to."

Sarah looked up at her husband's face. His eyes followed his daughter's mad dashing around the yard, but she had the distinct feeling he was also seeing the number of times that she played with Ironhide. She looked away and leaned against him. As luck would have it, her gaze settled on the one locations she'd tried to avoid looking at these past few weeks: Ironhide's spot by the tree.

She heard Will sigh, felt the rumble of it through his chest, and she snuggled closer against him, even though it was almost a bit too hot to snuggle. "I don't want to either, but it might help her see that he's not coming back."

He kissed the top of her head. "How is it that you're so smart?"

"I have a lot of down time."

He chuckled softly. "Obviously."

Again, she slapped at him, but it was playful and half hearted. "You're still a jerk."

And together they watched Annabelle stop and stare at them. The sunlight turned her hair a glowing golden shade and she ran towards her parents. "Cuddle time!"

* * *

_Three days later…_

They took Annabelle to see the Witwicky's that weekend. The idea that had sparked the whole trip had come from something that Ironhide had once admitted to Sarah. He had sworn her to secrecy, that she must not tell Will. It was just far too embarrassing for a mech of his age and experience to admit to.

The secret had brought tears to her eyes when he had told her. It was something so beautiful that emotions had just welled up within her. Ironhide had gotten a little flustered and left to train, but the act was something that she had never forgotten. As such, Sarah had recently been talking with Judy Witwicky about the memory garden. And Sam's mother had very nearly come to tears over the phone. Sarah was quite certain the older woman had put on a brave face and probably burst into tears after they had hung up. As gruff as he had been, Ironhide was the type of person who really grew on you.

Will hadn't known that Ironhide had helped Ron and Judy fix their garden years before.

Judy had told Sarah that at first Ironhide had laughed at the memory garden, but then had thought things over. He had brought a piece of Jazz to the garden. The name of the alt that Jazz had been so proud of had a new home in the memory garden, and Judy had graciously offered a spot for that piece of Ironhide that they had.

Sarah had decided to tell Will about how Ironhide had helped the Witwicky's fix their backyard, since Ironhide and the others had accidentally destroyed it. And it wasn't until after she had told Will the whole thing that she suggested placing the GMC logo in the memory garden.

At first, Will had protested. "I don't want to lose the only part of him that I have," he had said firmly. "We fought together, Sarah. I don't want to lose this."

"This way she can eventually accept that he's not coming back," she had said in a quietly urging voice. "And at the same time, she can see that there's a way to always remember him."

"So in a not traumatizing way?" Will had asked somewhat sarcastically.

"Exactly, smart ass," Sarah had slapped his shoulder. "Suck it up, soldier."

He had rolled his eyes, but saluted her sharply. "Yes, ma'am."

And then they were there, in the Witwicky backyard, holding an impromptu ceremony of which there were a number of people, and mechs, in attendance. Sam was there, without Carly (Sam said she had a prior engagement she could not miss), with his mom and dad, and Frankie and Mojo. Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Mirage were there in their alt forms, along with Wheelie and Brains who were small enough to not be in their alts.

Sarah stood next to the humans, with Annabelle on her hip. It was easier for Sarah to hold their little girl, so she could see over the others. Sarah held on to the GMC logo, which glimmered in the sunlight.

Will had somewhat awkwardly been the one to present the short speech. "We all knew the mech Ironhide was, and we all know he'd want this short and sweet." He stared out at the humans and Cybertronians assembled. They'd picked a weekday to do this, when the neighbors would be away from home. Still, the mechs decided not to shift out of vehicle mode. It was too dangerous, given the healing going on from the fallout from Chicago.

He cleared his throat. "He wasn't just a weapon's specialist. He was a friend, companion, and a war brother. I can't even begin to cover the length of time you've been fighting, but I know it's been a da…" Will paused when Sarah cleared her throat and omitted the swear word he'd been about to blurt out. "It's been a darned long time. Be in peace, Ironhide." He nodded towards the Cybertronians. "Till all are one."

It was a fascinating mix of voices that replied in kind. From Optimus' deep voice to Sarah and Judy's lighter tones.

Will smiled at the sound. The Prime had told them all the "Till all are one" phrase and the meaning behind it. He looked at his daughter, who had grabbed a hold of the G portion of the logo that Sarah was holding, and nodded. "It's time, my ladies."

He walked forward and, along with Sarah and Annabelle, led the small procession of humans to the side of the house where the memory garden was at. "Do you two want to do this?"

Silently, Annabelle nodded. One small hand was on the logo that Sarah was holding, and the other was clutching her mother's shoulder.

"I'm gonna put you down, okay, 'Belle?" Sarah stroked the small of her daughter's back reassuringly.

"'Kay, mommy."

Sarah crouched and let go of Annabelle and the logo. The girl slid to the lawn and stood tall with the logo firmly in both hands.

"Where d'you want it, mommy?"

Sarah looked over at Judy, who smiled.

"We have a spot waiting for it right next to Jazz's memory, sweetie," Judy pointed to a smooth rock the size of a shoebox. "Just walk right through the opening in the fence, okay? You can put it on that rock."

With a slight nod, Annabelle walked forward and walked through the gap in the decorative fence. The little girl carefully placed the logo onto the rock with a slight clinking sound as metal met stone. With her job done, she spun around with a gap toothed smile. "Aww done, mommy!"

Sarah opened her arms as Annabelle sprinted forward and jumped up. She caught her daughter and held her close, feeling the little girl's arms squeeze around her neck. She stared over at Will and wasn't the slightest bit ashamed to feel the tingle of tears. She could see Ron and Judy hugging, though Judy was doing most of the hugging and Ron looked a bit embarrassed.

Will stared at the logo sitting there, in the sun, with the strong glare glinting off of those three letters.

He jumped when he felt a hand tug his and looked down to see Annabelle smiling up at him. Will looked over to see Sarah, who had put Annabelle down, rubbing awkwardly at her throat and grinned a little. Their daughter had the grip of a boa constrictor. "What is it, baby?"

"Don't be sad, Daddy," Annabelle giggled. "You gonna see him again. I'm gonna see him again."

Will wanted to shake his head, but he only offered a smile in return. "I know, baby."

"What the…Are you _kidding_ me!" Ron's angry voice killed the sentimental mood in a flash. "Do you guys _**never**_ learn?"

There, on Ron's immaculate lawn, sat one Hummer, a semi, a Ferrari, and a Corvette. A smug looking Camaro was in the garage (with the door open to view everything, thank you very much) and Sam was sitting on the hood.

"How did you all even get on the lawn?"

"We transformed first," Optimus' voice was calm and smooth as silk. "We did not want to ruin your grass with our wheels."

"Yeah," Sideswipe chipped in. "We've heard that's bad for grass."

"No," Ron said slowly, "You being on my lawn at all is bad for the grass. It's also bad for you."

"Ron, now really isn't the t…"

"Judy, if you say now isn't the time, it's going to be the time."

"I'm sure Optimus can get one of them to help us out again."

Will snickered softly as he saw Mirage and Sideswipe, who were closest to the alley, slowly reverse and back away.

Ron turned to stare at Judy. "The bat. You need to get the bat."

Sarah poked Will in the arm and silently nodded her head towards the retreating Autobots.

He grinned in reply. No way was he going to get in the middle of this mess. He made sure he and his family were on The Path.

"For Pete's sake, Ron! I'm not getting the bat."

"Then I'll get the bat!" He began to stalk towards the house. "Where did you leave it?"

Judy looked over at Will and rolled her eyes. "I don't know, Ron."

Ron spun around and glared at the innocent looking semi. He stalked closer, staying on his path while advancing on the Prime. "You! You're in charge, so you're the one who told all of your soldiers or whatever to be on my grass."

Optimus, who was firmly on the side of the lawn that was the furthest from the route to safety, vented a sigh. "That would, most regrettably, be correct."

Behind Ron's back, a certain Hummer was silently backing up and rolling his way to safety. If there were silent communications between the Hummer and the semi, there was not a moment's pause in the actions of said Hummer. With all four tires now on pavement, and rolling down the alley after the Ferarri and Corvette, there was but one lone Cybertronian on The Lawn.

"Some days it doesn't pay to leave the base," Optimus sighed once again.

"Oh, it sure does pay," Ron grinned evilly. "And those two hyenas in the garage are going to _help you_!"

Instantly the laughter, as Sam and Bumblebee were once again as close as two best friends could be, was cut off with a screeching needle sound effect.

"Okay, right there, Bee? That was gold. Pure gold." Sam paused, then shrugged, resigned to his fate. "We're still screwed, but I really missed the whole sound effect thing that you do."

Ron's eagle eyes landed on Will and his family, and Will raised his hands in his defense. "We're on the path, all three of us."

Ron narrowed his gaze. "So you are." He tilted his head towards his house. "We've got enough food in there to feed a small army. Coming?"

"Yes, sir," Will said, feeling his stomach growl happily, and held his hand out for Sarah.

The three, for Annabelle was holding on to her mother's hand, followed Ron and Judy towards the rear entrance of the Witwicky home. Sam was also walking towards the house, leaving Bumblebee in the garage. The young man flashed an apologetic look towards the Prime, who flashed his headlights in acknowledgement.

Then Annabelle jerked her mother's hand. "Wait up, momma, I forgots something!"

With that, she ran back towards the memory garden.

"I'll wait for her," Sarah said with a smile. "You guys go on ahead. She probably wants to put a dandelion on Ironhide's logo or something."

Ron started to grumble again about the lawn, and griping about introducing weeds to said lawn, but Judy pushed him into the house.

Sarah shook her head and looked after her daughter. She followed, walking close enough that she could hear Annabelle when she stopped in front of the GMC logo.

"Come backs home soon, I'nhide, okay? I miss you, and daddy misses you, and mommy misses you." The little girl scowled at the logo. "And don't go being mean to that nice man, okay? He's nice, not weird like mommy says."

And that was enough to make Sarah wonder, and then smile, at the strength of a child's imagination.

* * *

finis...

...for now.

* * *

**AN:**

**This story was partially inspired by my story, **_**Ironhide and the Garden of Doom**_**, and also a 90's song by Kate Bush called This Woman's Work. I never could figure out if it was supposed to be sad or empowering or whatever. It's a **_**haunting**_** song. **

**Mirage is Mirage in my stories, never Dino. Also, I doubt he'd freely offer up his services as chauffer, hence why he wasn't mentioned in the opening scene. Not unless Optimus required it of him, and even then I think he might not want to. Then again, I'm not overly familiar with Mirage's character. **

**Leadfoot, Roadbuster, and Topspin all lived through DotM, but they were much happier on the NASCAR circuit, so that's where they're at through this ceremony stuff. **

**Hope you all liked this! Please feel free to drop a review, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me!**


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